from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
cut a tape
vi.
To write a software or document distribution on magnetic tape for
shipment. Has nothing to do with physically cutting the medium! Early
versions of this lexicon claimed that one never analogously speaks of
`cutting a disk', but this has since been reported as live usage.
Related slang usages are mainstream business's `cut a check', the
recording industry's `cut a record', and the military's `cut an
order'.
All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsolete recording
and duplication technologies. The first stage in manufacturing an
old-style vinyl record involved cutting grooves in a stamping die with
a precision lathe. More mundanely, the dominant technology for mass
duplication of paper documents in pre-photocopying days involved
"cutting a stencil", punching away portions of the wax overlay on a
silk screen. More directly, paper tape with holes punched in it was an
important early storage medium. See also {burn a CD}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
cut a tape
To write a software or document distribution on magnetic tape
for shipment. Has nothing to do with physically cutting the
medium! "Cutting a disk" has also been reported as live
usage. Related slang usages are mainstream business's "cut a
check", the recording industry's "cut a record", and the
military's "cut an order".
All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsolete
recording and duplication technologies. The first stage in
manufacturing an old-style vinyl record involved cutting
grooves in a stamping die with a precision lathe. More
mundanely, the dominant technology for mass duplication of
paper documents in pre-photocopying days involved "cutting a
stencil", punching away portions of the wax overlay on a silk
screen. More directly, paper tape with holes punched in it
was an important early storage medium.
[{Jargon File}]